On Friday, my super supportive husband and I drove down to the Miami Book Fair and were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to find. Coincidentally, Friday was “School Day” and there were thousands of children of all ages eagerly checking out all the booths. Fortunately I had taken postcards for the teen novel “Masks” written by my friend and fellow iUniverse author Patricia Caviglia  (Click here for her website.). The timing was perfect with all the school children looking for new books to read. Patricia Caviglia’s excellent writing skills weave a story filled with important lessons for teenagers and parents.

Yesterday, Saturday, I spent the day at the Book Fair with Janice, my friend and Florida “mentor” for promoting The Bridge Club. After months of e-mailing, telephoning, and skyping, it was such a pleasure to finally be standing in front of each other. The hug was a big one!

What a day we had amongst the literati! We walked the Book Fair from one end to the other handing out The Bridge Club postcards and chatting with readers, authors, and book-lovers in general. The response was great and the weather perfect so it was the best combination for strolling and chatting.

It was a thrill to see my novel displayed along with other iUniverse Rising Star authors and a great pleasure to meet Joy Owens from iUniverse. Again, after months of communicating by e-mail it was so nice to meet her in person. Along with all of this activity, Janice and I managed to catch five author presentations – among them, Michele Norris from NPR, Emilio Estefan, and the best way to end the day, the amazing Salman Rushdie – awesome, as expected.
This was the 27th year for the Book Fair and the diversity of programing and the eclectic mix of the 350 visiting authors was impressive. It is truly an experience not to be missed for people in the area and reminded me of Toronto’s own Word On The Street that is held in late September every year. If you’ve never gone, mark it down for 2011!